Roseanne Cherrie Barr (born November 3, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and television producer. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy at clubs before gaining critical and popular acclaim in the television sitcom Roseanne (1988–1997; 2018). She won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her work on the show.

Barr was born into a Jewish family living in Salt Lake City, Utah. She became a standup comedian in 1980. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she began to emerge as a celebrity through her role in Roseanne and other public performances. Barr sparked controversy when performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a nationally aired baseball game on July 25, 1990. After singing the anthem in what many perceived to be a deliberately disrespectful manner, Barr grabbed her crotch and spat. This performance was met with condemnation from baseball fans and sportswriters, and was called "disgraceful" by then-President George H. W. Bush.[1]

Barr has been active and outspoken on political issues. She won nearly 70,000 votes for president in the general election of 2012, as the presidential nominee of the Peace and Freedom Party.[2] After Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president in 2015, Kelly Weill of The Daily Beast wrote that Barr "veered right" in her politics.[3] After Roseanne was revived, Trump called her to congratulate her on her show's ratings and thank her for her support.[4] She has frequently defended her support of Trump, and has been criticized for her extensive use of personal attacks, conspiracy theories, and fake news.[5]

Roseanne was revived in 2018 on ABC. A ratings success, the revival was initially renewed for an additional season, but was then abruptly canceled on May 29, due to Barr making a controversial tweet, which many called "racist" and she later called a "bad joke".[6]

Early life

Roseanne Barr was born on November 3, 1952, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to a Jewish family. She is the oldest of four children born to Helen (née Davis), a bookkeeper and cashier, and Jerome Hershel "Jerry" Barr,[7] who worked as a salesman.[8] Her father's family were Jewish emigrants from Russia, and her maternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from Austria-Hungary and Lithuania.[7] Her paternal grandfather changed his surname from "Borisofsky" to "Barr" upon entering the United States.[8]

Her Jewish upbringing was influenced by her devoutly Orthodox Jewish maternal grandmother.[8] Barr's parents kept their Jewish heritage secret from their neighbors and were partially involved in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[8] Barr has stated, "Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning I was a Jew; Sunday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday afternoon we were Mormons."[9]

When Barr was three years old, she got Bell's palsy on the left side of her face. Barr said, "[so] my mother called in a rabbi to pray for me, but nothing happened. Then my mother got a Mormon preacher, he prayed, and I was miraculously cured". Years later, Barr learned that Bell's palsy was usually temporary and that the Mormon preacher came "exactly at the right time".[8]

At six years old, Barr discovered her first public stage by lecturing at LDS churches around Utah and was elected president of a Mormon youth group.[8]

At 16, Barr was hit by a car; the incident left her with a traumatic brain injury.[8] Her behavior changed so radically that she was institutionalized for eight months at Utah State Hospital.[10] While institutionalized she had a baby, which she put up for adoption.[11]

In 1970, when Barr was 18 years old, she moved out by informing her parents she was going to visit a friend in Colorado for two weeks, but never returned.[10]

Career

Stand-up comedian: 1980–1986

While in Colorado, Barr did stand-up gigs in clubs in Denver and other Colorado towns. She later tried out at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles and went on to appear on The Tonight Show in 1985.[10]

Barr was offered the role of Peg Bundy in Married... with Children but turned it down.[13] In her routine she popularized the phrase, "domestic goddess", to refer to a homemaker or housewife. The success of her act led to her own series on ABC, called Roseanne.

The show premiered on October 18, 1988, and was watched by 21.4 million households, making it the highest-rated debut of that season.[15]

Barr became outraged when she watched the first episode of Roseanne and noticed that in the credits, Williams was listed as creator.[15] She told Tanner Stransky of Entertainment Weekly, "We built the show around my actual life and my kids. The 'domestic goddess', the whole thing".[15] In the same interview, Werner said, "I don't think Roseanne, to this day, understands that this is something legislated by the Writers Guild, and it's part of what every show has to deal with. They're the final arbiters."[15]

During the first season, Barr sought more creative control over the show, opposing Williams' authority. Barr refused to say certain lines and eventually walked off set. She threatened to quit the show if Williams did not leave. ABC let Williams go after the thirteenth episode.[15] Barr gave Amy Sherman-Palladino and Joss Whedon their first writing jobs on Roseanne.[16][17]

Roseanne ran for nine seasons from 1988 to 1997. Barr won an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Kids Choice Award, and three American Comedy Awards for her part in the show. Barr had crafted a "fierce working-class domestic goddess" persona in the eight years preceding her sitcom and wanted to do a realistic show about a strong mother "who was not a victim of patriarchal consumerism".[17]

For the final two seasons, Barr earned $40 million, making her the second-highest-paid woman in show business at the time, after Oprah Winfrey.[18]

Barbara Ehrenreich called Barr a working-class spokesperson representing "the hopeless underclass of the female sex: polyester-clad, overweight occupants of the slow track; fast-food waitresses, factory workers, housewives, members of the invisible pink-collar army; the despised, the jilted, the underpaid",[19] but a master of "the kind of class-militant populism that the Democrats, most of them anyway, never seem to get right".[20] Barr refuses to use the term "blue collar" because it masks the issue of class.[21]

During Roseanne's final season, Barr was in negotiations between Carsey-Werner Productions and ABC executives to continue playing Roseanne Conner in a spin-off.[22] After failed discussions with ABC as well as CBS and Fox, Carsey-Werner and Barr agreed not to continue the negotiations.[23]

She released her autobiography in 1989, titled Roseanne—My Life As a Woman.[24] That same year, she made her film debut in She-Devil, playing a scorned housewife, Ruth. Film critic Roger Ebert gave her a positive review saying, "Barr could have made an easy, predictable and dumb comedy at any point in the last couple of years. Instead, she took her chances with an ambitious project – a real movie. It pays off, in that Barr demonstrates that there is a core of reality inside her TV persona, a core of identifiable human feelings like jealousy and pride, and they provide a sound foundation for her comic acting".[25]

In the summer of 2003, she took on the dual role of hosting a cooking show called Domestic Goddess and starring in a reality show called The Real Roseanne Show about hosting a cooking show. Although 13 episodes were in production, a hysterectomy brought a premature end to both projects.[29]

In 2004, she voiced Maggie, one of the main characters in the animated film Home on the Range.

Return to stand-up, television guest appearances, and radio: 2005–2010

In February 2006, Barr performed her first-ever live dates in Europe as part of the Leicester Comedy Festival in Leicester, England. The shows took place at De Montfort Hall.[31] She released her first children's DVD, Rockin' with Roseanne: Calling All Kids, that month.

Barr's return to the stage culminated in an HBO Comedy Special Roseanne Barr: Blonde N Bitchin', which aired November 2006, on HBO. Two nights earlier, Barr had returned to primetime network TV with a guest spot on NBC's My Name Is Earl, playing a crazy trailer park manager.

From 2009 to 2010, she hosted a politically themed radio show on KPFK.[34]

Since 2008, she and partner Johnny Argent have hosted a weekly radio show on Sundays, on KCAA in the Los Angeles area, called "The Roseanne and Johnny Show".[35]

On March 23, 2009, it was announced that Barr would be returning to primetime with a new sitcom, wherein she would once again play the matriarch. Jim Vallely of Arrested Development had been tapped to pen the series.[36] She later stated on her website that the project had been canceled.

On April 15, 2009, Barr made an appearance on Bravo's 2nd Annual A-List Awards in the opening scenes. She played Kathy Griffin's fairy godmother, granting her wish to be on the A-List for one night only.

In February 2010, Barr headlined the inaugural Traverse City Comedy Arts Festival in a project of the Traverse City Film Festival, founded by filmmaker Michael Moore.[37] Moore developed the comedy fest with comedian Jeff Garlin.[37]

In August 2011, it was reported that Barr was working on a new sitcom with 20th Century Fox Television titled Downwardly Mobile.[43]Eric Gilliland was attached as co-creator, writer and executive producer; Gilliland was also a writer on Roseanne. In October 2011, NBC picked up the show but later dropped ir.[44] A pilot was filmed but initially ended up being shelved by the network.[45] Barr called her progressive politics the sole reason behind the pilot's rejection. She said she was notified that the show would not be picked up due to its being labeled "too polarizing" by network executives.

On November 28, 2014, Barr's series, Momsters: When Moms Go Bad debuted on the Investigation Discovery cable network, a network that she says she's a "little obsessed with". Barr hosts the show as herself.

On April 28, 2017, it was reported that Barr, along with most of the original cast, were shopping an eight-episode revival of Roseanne, with its original cast and Barr serving as producer, to various networks and Netflix.[49][50] On May 16, 2017, ABC picked up the revival for mid-season 2018.[51]

On March 27, 2018, the revived, 10th season of Roseanne premiered on ABC to high ratings.[52] On March 30, 2018, ABC renewed the series for an 11th season, with thirteen episodes.[53] On May 29, 2018, the series was canceled by ABC in the aftermath of a tweet widely considered to be racist.[54] She and Tom Werner later came to an agreement on relinquishing her producer's stake in a spin-off titled The Conners, which ABC ordered for the fall season soon after.[55]

Personal life

In 1970, when she was 17, Barr had a child, Brandi Ann Brown, whom she placed for adoption; they were later reunited.[8][56] On February 4, 1974, Barr married Bill Pentland, a motel clerk she met while in Colorado. They had three children: Jessica, Jennifer, and Jake.[56] Pentland and Barr divorced on January 16, 1990.
[57]

Four days later, on January 20, 1990, Barr married fellow comedian Tom Arnold and became known as Roseanne Arnold during the marriage. Barr had met Arnold in 1983 in Minneapolis, where he opened for her stand-up comedy act. In 1988, Barr brought Arnold onto her sitcom, Roseanne, as a writer.[58]

Barr has a lesbian sister, Geraldine Barr,[59][60] and a gay brother, Ben Barr,[59][60] both of whom inspired her to introduce gay characters into her sitcom.[61] Barr has stated she supports gay marriage.[59] Geraldine was also Barr's manager while performing in comedy clubs and at the start of her sitcom. Geraldine claimed Arnold tried to dominate Barr "for his own reasons".[62]

After being fired by Roseanne, Geraldine filed a $70.3 million breach of contract lawsuit in Superior Court of Los Angeles County on December 18, 1991. She said Barr promised her half the earnings from the Roseanne show for helping invent the "domestic goddess" character in 1981, serving as "writer, organizer, accountant, bookkeeper and confidante".[63] Since it was six months past the statute of limitations, the suit was thrown out.[62]

In a 1991 interview with People, Barr described herself as an incest survivor, accusing both of her parents of physical and sexual abuse,[64] claims which they and Geraldine publicly denied.[65]Melvin Belli, her parents' lawyer, said they had passed a lie detector test "with flying colors".[65] Barr was part of an incest recovery group, something she said her parents knew about but for which they were "in denial".[65]

On February 14, 2011, Barr and Geraldine appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show where Barr admitted the word "incest" could have been the wrong word to use and should have waited until her therapy was over before revealing the "darkest time" in her life.[66] She told Oprah Winfrey, "I was in a very unhappy relationship and I was prescribed numerous psychiatric drugs ... to deal with the fact that I had some mental illness ... I totally lost touch with reality ... (and) I didn't know what the truth was ... I just wanted to drop a bomb on my family".[66] She added that not everything was "made up", saying, "Nobody accuses their parents of abusing them without justification".[66] Geraldine said they did not speak for twelve years, but had reconciled.[66]

Barr filed for divorce from Tom Arnold on April 18, 1994 in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, citing irreconcilable differences.[58] Their efforts to have children were unsuccessful.[67]

In 2002, Barr met Johnny Argent online after running a writing competition on her blog and began dating him in 2003, after a year of phone conversations.[69][70] They live on a 46 acres (19 hectares) macadamia nut farm located on the Big Island of Hawaii. Barr purchased the property in 2007 for $1.78 million.[71] Barr has studied Kabbalah at the Kabbalah Centre and frequently comments on the discipline.[72]

In 2015, Barr revealed she had been diagnosed with both macular degeneration and glaucoma, and thus was gradually losing her eyesight and expected to eventually go blind; she was consuming medical marijuana to decrease her intraocular pressure that is a feature of these diseases.[73] Barr later revealed that she was misdiagnosed and that her vision problem is really due to a mole resting behind her eye, which can be corrected through surgery.[74]

Controversies

National anthem

On July 25, 1990, Barr performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" off-key before a baseball game between the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds at Jack Murphy Stadium.[75] She later said she was singing as loudly as possible to hear herself over the public-address system, so her rendition of the song sounded "screechy". Following her rendition, she mimicked the often-seen actions of players by spitting and grabbing her crotch as if adjusting a protective cup. Barr later said that the Padres had suggested she "bring humor to the song", but many criticized the episode, including PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush, who called her rendition "disgraceful".[1][76] Barr revisited this incident during her Comedy Central Roast in 2012, wherein she once again belted out the last few bars of the national anthem, without screeching.[77]

Hitler photoshoot

Barr elicited criticism in July 2009 when she posed as Adolf Hitler in a feature for the satirical Jewish publication Heeb magazine, called "That Oven Feelin'".[78][79] The Nazi theme was reportedly her suggestion, and featured her with a Hitler mustache and swastika arm-band, holding a tray of burnt gingerbread man cookies the article referred to as "burnt Jew cookies".[80] The magazine's publisher, Josh Neuman, said the photos were taken for satire and were not done for shock value. Barr, who is Jewish, said she was "making fun of Hitler, not his victims".[81]Fox News TV host Bill O'Reilly was highly critical of her for "mocking the Holocaust" and Extra's Mario Lopez stated "Come on, Roseanne. Hitler jokes are never funny."[82][83] The revival of her show in March 2018 caused the photos to resurface on social media and renewed mentions of the incident in the Jewish magazine The Forward and the Los Angeles Times, among others.[79][84][83]

Valerie Jarrett tweets and Roseanne cancellation

On May 29, 2018, Barr responded to a thread on Twitter about Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to former President Obama.[91] It read "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj" [sic]. The tweet was widely criticized as being racist about Jarrett ("vj").[92][93] Barr was initially defensive, but later posted an apology "for making a bad joke about [Jarrett's] politics and her looks."[54] She disputed allegations of racism, saying she believed Jarrett was Saudi (or white).[94] Barr also said she made the tweet, which she called wrong and indefensible, at 2:00 am while on Ambien, a sedative. Sanofi, which manufactures Ambien, responded by tweeting that "racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication", though noted Ambien had been linked to reduced inhibitions.[95] Later that day, ABC canceled Roseanne and removed the show's content from the network website. The cancellation announcement from ABC president Channing Dungey, the first African-American woman to head the network, called Barr's remark "abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values."[54] Within three weeks, the television show was revived as spinoff The Conners, with mostly the same cast and crew, minus Barr.[96] In a later interview with Sean Hannity, Barr said that her tweet was intended to be a political statement rather than racial one.[97]

On September 19, she appeared at the Occupy Wall Street protests and spoke in support of the protestors.[101] "She stated any 'guilty' Wall Street bankers should be forced to give up any income over $100 million, and if they are unable to live on that, be sent to re-education camps, and if that doesn't help be beheaded".[102][not in citation given]

Barr's running mate, Cindy Sheehan, immediately had disagreements with Barr, from Barr's views on policy, to Barr's desire to only campaign online, and Barr's treatment of Green Party nominee Jill Stein, leading Sheehan to request that her name be taken off the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. Sheehan was told it was too late to have her name removed, so she instead announced that she was would be leaving the campaign.[118][119]

Barr appeared on the ballot in California,
Colorado, and Florida. She did not appear on the ballot in her home state of Hawaii, which did not allow write-in votes. She ended up voting for President Obama. She received 67,326 votes nationwide, placing sixth overall with 0.05% of the popular vote; Stein, who appeared on the ballot of thirty-six states and the District of Columbia, placed far ahead of her in fourth place with 0.36% of the popular vote and 469,627 votes.[2]

Barr was followed by a film crew throughout her entire campaign, with documentarian Eric Weinrib directing, leading to questions about the sincerity of her campaign. Over 300 hours were filmed and were released as a film called Roseanne for President!. Despite questions of her sincerity regarding her campaign, Barr and her family have insisted her desire to run for president was "very real."[120][121][122][123]